Concealed drawer handle locking device



Oct. 5, 1937.

J. E. KARPENSKE ET AL CONCEALED DRAWER HANDLE LOCKING DEVICE Filed May 19, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS MRPENs/(E & JIM/v LEE III/II WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Ill A LTIII /A -Ill'[ A TTORNEV BY g Oct. 5, 1937.

J. E. KARPENSKE ET AL 2,094,895

CONCEALED DRAWER HANDLE LOCKING DEVICE Filed May 19, 1936 2 SheetsSheet 2 W 5 U M g X k H 5 N 1. h cf 1m 0 w 6 is M A i f a F- \E a 3 i 9 (O h w s 3 fi fl w A m H i M 1 m gw flhuhw E y |\|\\l||\|,\L 2

INVENTORS Toss! E. K4 RPENSKE 4r Jhw L-BENSON A TTORNE Y Patented Oct. 5, 1937 PATENT OFFIQE CONCEALED DRAWER HANDLE LOCKING DEVICE Joseph E. Karpenske and John L. Benson, Rochester, N. Y.; said Karpenske assignor to said Benson 7 Claims.

control of the locking mechanism of the drawer;

A further object of this invention is to provide a novel form of locking mechanism by means of which the unlocking of all the drawers and the exposure of the handles for the opening of the.

drawers is simultaneously effected by a single lock which also serves as the locking means of one of the drawers, while the locking operation on the remaining drawer is effected by the handle of the individually locked drawer in combination with their own handles.

Another object of this invention is to combine the locking mechanism with the handles of the drawers in such a manner that the concealment of each handle will effect the locking of the drawer operated by the handle.

These and other objects and attendant advantages of the invention will become more clearly apparent from the detailed description which follows and more particularly the claims appended thereto, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of. a desk with the novel locking mechanism embodied therein.

Figure 2 is a cross section of the desk taken on the line 203-23: of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a cross section of thedesk taken on the line 3:c3x-of Figure 1. 7

Figure 4 is a section taken on the line la-4r of Figure 2. t

Figure 5 is a section taken on the line Err-5a: of Figure 3.

Figure 6 is a horizontal section taken onth line 6:c6r of Figure 5. V

Figure '7 is an enlarged horizontal sectional View of a portion of the desk and a drawer, the

section being taken on the line lx'la: of Figure 8.-

55 llx-Hsc of Figure 10.

Figure 12 is a sectional view taken on the line l2a:l2r of Figure 10.

In the several figures of the drawingslike reference numerals indicate like parts.

The locking mechanism and its combination with the handles of the drawers of a desk or cabinet forming the subject matter of our in-1 vention is so constructed that the handle of each drawer is concealed in the front thereof while the drawer is locked and there is no need for a handle. In unlocking the drawers however the handles thereof are released and automatically appear to permit the drawers to be pulled out thereby. The drawers then stay unlocked and may be moved in and out by means of their handle'without aiiecting the locking mechanism until a single key operated master lock is operated to lock one of the drawers and set the looking mechanism for the other drawers. The 7 drawers however remain unlocked and are free to be moved in and out by means of their handlesuntil each drawer is separately locked by forcing its handle into the front of the drawer into a concealed position therein. The position of the handles of the drawers at the front of the desk thus reveal which of the drawers are locked or unlocked. Furthermore if it is desired to look some of the drawers and allow others to remain unlocked it may be done by the operation of the master lock and the concealment of the handles of the drawers that are to be locked and this will leave the remaining drawers unlocked and free to be moved in ando'ut by means of their handles until each exposed handle of the remaining unlocked drawers is separately moved into its concealed position. In this way the accidental closing of any of the drawers will not lock the drawer or affect a locking operation of the remaining drawers and each drawer except the one controlled by the master lock can only be lockedby the movement of its handle from an exposed to a concealed position on the drawer.

The combined locking and drawer handling mechanism is illustrated as applied to a desk having a top I, a central drawer 2 and the side drawers 3, 3. The drawers are suitably mounted to slide in the frame work on the desk to permit their ready movement in and out therefrom. Each of the side drawers 3 is provided with a single concealable handle 4 and the central drawer 2 is provided with a pair of concealable handles 5, 5. In addition to the pair of handles the central drawer is also provided with the key operated master lock 6 which may be any one of the well known type of locks in which the turning of a key moves the locking bolt 1 into and out of locking engagement with the top of the desk. The lock 6 is centrally mounted in the front of the drawer and the handles 5, are

I cated to either side thereof and comprise short and flat members which are slidably mounted in the front and the bottom of the drawer as illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 7 and 8. The under side of each of these members, near the forward end thereof, has. a handle groove 9. are adapted to have the ends of the fingers engage thereinto in order to'pull and open the Each handle member has the end of a locking rod I0 suitably anchored therein'and this looking rod extends along the under sidefof the drawer and passes thru the back thereof to the rear of the drawer where a detent II is formed on the rod. At a point intermediate the back of the drawer and the handle member 4 is held.

a washer I2 and betweenthis washer andthe back of. the drawer surroundingthe locking rod I 0 is interposed thecoil spring I3. When the handle members 3 and 5 are in their concealed position the spring I3 is compressed so thatwhen the locking mechanism is unlocked, as will here-' inafter be described, the handle members are moved into their exposed operative position and held in this position by the expansion of the springs I3. A washer I4, carried by each looking rod at the rear of the drawer and normally spaced therefrom serves as the stop for the movement of the locking rod by thespring I3 v and limits the distance the handle members 3 or 5 may project out of the front of the drawer for the opening of the drawer.

In looking the handle member and'withit the drawer which carries it, the handle member is v, pushed into the front of the drawer until its outer end is flush with the molding I5 which surrounds the desk below each'drawer or extends the full width of the drawer as is the case in the central drawer. In this way the outer end of each handle mem'berblends in with the molding when its drawer is locked and the drawer appears as if no handle were provided thereon. In pushing the handle into the concealed locked-position the latch end II of the locking rod I 0 moves into one of the openings I6, I 6 which extend thru the stationary upright II spacedly mounted from therear of the desk. In this upright is provided avertical duct I8 and in this duct are mounted thebolts I 9, one for each of the detents I I. Each bolt carries a pin 20 which extends thru an open- 7 ing 2I in the back of the uprightll to rest on right I1 parallel thereto. ,From the upright 23 the lever arms project toand pivotally engage the vertically movablev upright 24 which is mounted to slide in the bearings 25, 25. This latter upright in turn is provided with an arm 26 which extends thru the side of the desk be hind the central drawer thereof where it rests' against the bearing block 21. A spring 28 is attached to the end of the arm 26 and suitably anchored to the rear of the desk so as to normally hold the arm and with it the vertically movable upright 24 in its lowermost position. In this position the lever arms 22, which connect. the upright 24 with the individual bolts I9, hold these bolts in an elevated position out of engagement with the detents I I of the locking rods.

'The side drawers, controlled by the position of their handles 4, 4, are thus free to move in and out as long as the bolts I9 are held elevated in,

theupright II as above pointed out.

A locking position of the bolts I9 is brought about by moving the. handle 5 of the central drawer 2 ,into its concealed locking position. This movement of the handle member 5 causes the cam '29 at the end of itslocking rod 38 to engage under and raise the arm 26 and with it the upright 24 so that all of the lever arms 22 are rocked thereby to have theirouter free ends lo'w-- ered and with it the pins 25 which rest thereon.

The-bolts I9, which carry these pins, are thus lowered in the upright I1 into the position illustrated in Figures 5, 8 and 9. In this position the locking bolts I 9 engage behind any of the detents I I which are forced intothe openings I6 and hold the drawer which carries this particular detent.- However, unless the handle of a drawer ismoved into its concealed position so as to force its detent II into the upright II for engagement by a bolt I9 as above described, the drawers remain unlocked and are free to be moved in and out of the desk. But when it is desired to lock one or all of the side drawers after the middle drawer is locked, its handle member 4 is simply forcedin andthis causes the detent at the end of its locking rod to" engage under its bolt I 9 to raise it and then allow it to drop back behind the detent. to hold the locking rod and with it the drawer handle and drawer in a locked position. 1 1

The handle members 5,- 5 of the middle drawer 2 are controlled bythe master lock Gand the mechanism for'thispurpose is illustrated in Figures 4, 10, 11 and 12. The master lock 6, as

pointed out above, may be any one of suitable locks operated by a key for the purpose of moving the locking bolt. 1 intoand'out of its locking position. The lock is suitably set into the front of the.

middle drawer 2 so that its belt I can move into locking engagement with the top I of thedesk.

To the-face of the bolt 1 is suitably fastened an" auxiliary bolt 30 so as' to move therewith. This auxiliary bolt is provided with a shoulder 3i against which the ends of the levers 32, 32 are heldby means of the springs33, 33. The levers 32 are pivoted at 34 and their outer ends have attached thereto the-bolts 35. The latter are mounted to slide in suitable guides 36 so as toprovide a. sub--,

stantially vertical movement for themand cause its lower end to move in and out of the opening in the locking plate 31 carried by the handlememis released by the bolt 35 on the unlocking Off/118' lock 6 which withdraws the bolt I from. the desk top to unlock the drawer and forces theauxiliary bolt 3!! to rock the levers 32 against the tension of the springs 33, 33 and causes the withdrawal of the bolt 35 from the handle member 5. With the handle member 5 released the locking rod 38 is moved with it so that the cam 29 thereof slides from under the arm 26 to allow this arm and the movable upright 24 to drop and rock the lever arms 22 so as to raise the bolts IS in the stationary upright I? and disengage themselves from the detents ll of the locking rods ID to release the handle members 4, 4 and drawers 3, 3 held locked thereby.

The handle members 5, 5 in the middle drawer and their connection and operation by the master lock 6 is such that the movement of each handle member 5 effects a locking and unlocking of the handle members 4 of the side drawers on its own side of the master lock 6. All of the drawers are simultaneously unlocked on the unlocking of the master lock 6. However the middle drawers may be locked without in any way affecting any looking of the side drawer and only when the handle members 5 are moved into a concealed position are the locking bolts l9 set to lock the side drawers whenever their handles 4 are pushed into their concealed locking position.

We claim:

1. In combination with a desk having a plurality of drawer compartments, an independently lockable and unlockable drawer movable in and out of one of said compartments and singly lockable and collectively unlockable drawers movable in and out of the other of said compartments, a handle mounted to move into and out of the front of each of said drawers, means for locking and unlocking said independently lockable drawer and means operated by said locking and unlocking means for releasing the handle of said independently lockable drawer, an arm operated by the movement of the handle of said independently lockable and unlockable drawer, individual bolts engaging the handles of said collectively unlockable drawers and means operated by said arm to move said bolts for looking or unlocking said handles.

2. In combination with a desk having two drawer compartments and a drawer movable in and out of each of said compartments, a movable handle member carried by each of said drawers, a locking rod movable by each of said handle members, a cam provided on one of said locking rods, a detent provided on the other of said looking rods, an arm movable by said cam, a bolt mounted to be movable by said detent for engagement therewith and means operated by said arm to hold said bolt for engagement by said detent or free from engagement therewith.

3. The combination in a desk as set forth in claim 2 including a master lock for locking the drawer having the locking rod with the cam and means operated by said master lock for locking and unlocking the handle of said drawer to permit the movement of said handle to operate said cam and move said arm for the movement of each bolt.

4. In combination with a desk having a plurality of drawer compartments and drawers movable in and out of said compartments, a movable locking bolt carried by one of said drawers for locking said drawer, a handle movable in and out of said drawer, a second locking bolt operated by said first locking bolt to look and unlock said handle,spring means carried by said drawer to move said handle out of said drawer on the release thereof by said second locking bolt, a cam carried by said handle, an arm mounted in said desk for engagement by said cam, a plurality of bolts suspended for movement by gravity in said desk, means operated by said arm for raising and lowering said plurality of bolts for engagement and disengagement of the remaining said drawers.

5. The combination in a desk as set forth in claim 4 in which the remaining said drawers are each provided with a handle movable in and out of their drawers, a detent carried by each of the handles for engagement by said plurality. of bolts to hold said handles concealed in said drawers in locking said drawers into said compartment and spring means carried by each of said drawers to move said handles out of the drawers on the release thereof by the movement of said plurality of bolts.

6. In combination with a desk having a drawer compartment and a drawer movable in and out of said compartment, of a handle adjacent said drawer movable in and out of said compartment to permit it to lie flush with or project from the front of the compartment, locking means within said compartment and cooperating with said handle to lock said handle flush with the front of the compartment, means provided on said drawer and engaged by said handle to simultaneously hold said drawer looked into said compartment and means on said handle adapted to engage said drawer in its projected position for the outward movement of the drawer by said handle.

7. In combination with a desk having a drawer compartment and a drawer movable in and out of said compartment, of a handle member having a handle groove therein movable in and out of said compartment so as toconceal or expose said handle groove adjacent the front of the drawer, locking means within said compartment and cooperating with said handle member to lock said member with its handle groove concealed in the compartment, means provided by said drawer and engaged by said handle member to simultaneously hold said drawer locked into said compartment and means on said handle adapted to engage said drawer in its projected position for the outward movement of the drawer by said handle.

JOSEPH E. 'KARPENSKE. JOHN L. BENSON. 

